


You Caught Me

by Lotophagia



Category: Shovel Knight
Genre: Aftermath, Brief description of violence, Experimental, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Spoilers, kinda-sorta a prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:39:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2610494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotophagia/pseuds/Lotophagia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He thinks on his past, on the mistakes he made, and the one that cost him the people he cared about most.</p><p>After the battle he wakes up, and thinks he's still dreaming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Caught Me

“Hey, wait up!”

The young boy turned around, surprised to hear such a dainty voice in a place like this. But sure enough, jogging through the archway to meet him was a tall and muscular girl, in the same white cloak that indicated their rank of squire.

“Um… hello,” he fumbled. He had been used to looking up into people’s faces for a long time now, but this fellow newcomer was so tall and so close to him that he could sense all new sprains in his neck after only a few seconds.

To the girl’s credit, though, she actually noticed and crouched down a bit so they could be on the same level. He hated when people did that, but from her it actually seemed genuine instead of just condescending.

“You ran out before the end, you know,” she said lightly. “You okay?”

“Y- yes, I’m all right. It’s just that…” he didn’t fully realize what he was doing, how much he’d actually give up, not until the vows were made and the oath taken. “… Nerves, is all.”

“Well, tell your nerves that- whoof, hang on.” Straightening up, the girl motioned to a nearby ledge, and the two took a seat in order to be more comfortable. “Tell your nerves that they caused you to miss our partner assignments.”

“Partners?”

“Yeah. Guess it’s a way to make sure the knight training us doesn’t work his squire to death.” She shrugged, and then gave an awkward smile. “You ran off, and no one was terribly interested in teaming up with the first lady squire in twenty years, so… guess it’s the two of us. I’m-“ she offered a hand, only to pause and bite her lip. “Oh, yeah. No names anymore, right?”

That had been what caused him to leave early. It was as much metaphorical as it was a matter of policy: a knight was meant to serve the kingdom and thus could have no ties, not even a family or given name. When you took your oaths and donned the cloak of a squire you became nothing more than that; your new name would have to be earned, through both your weapon and your actions.

“No names.” It was the hardest thing he had to do, he loved his name and the family who gave it to him. But they still had many sons and daughters to tend the farm, and the recruiter who had passed through town made the offer of knighthood too grand to refuse.

He hesitated, but shook the girl’s still-outstretched hand. “I guess I’m just Squire, then. And you?”

“Squire, but my friends call me Squire for short.” She gave a small chuckle at her own joke. “Here’s to the next five years, huh?”

\-------

He still dreams of her, every night. The monsters. The Enchantress. Exploring the halls of dark relics and stolen artifacts, until she reaches for the wrong one by pure chance and then-

There is nothing but bright lights, monsters swarming from all sides, and falling. Always falling.

He can never catch her. Most times he is too overcome by monsters to get there in time. On occasion he manages to break through and jump for her, only to watch his dearest friend and partner pass through his arms like water.

He wakes up before she hits the ground. 

\-------

“I think it looks good on you.”

The shorter knight grumbled slightly, lifting up his helmet. “I feel like a kettle in this. A short kettle.”

“Well, unless you can somehow prove you’re able to fight in stilts within… oh, a week’s time? You’re going to be stuck with that.” The taller knight smiled, leaning down to give her partner a kiss on the forehead. “And we know how well the last attempt went.”

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned. He thought boosted height would give him a advantage against the only other squire his size, but the attempt only caused a broken ankle and splinters in some very uncomfortable places. The younger recruits were laughing for a week afterwards. “But I just… even if it was a different helmet, you know?” He looked down at the blue cylinder of metal meant as a placeholder for the official knight armour that would be given to him at the ceremony. “Something more noble, with… I don’t know, horns or something.”

“Horns? Really?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes really! You don’t think it would make me look taller?”

“I think it would make you look like a particularly fierce kettle.” She laughed, and from anyone else it would have caused him to fume in anger, but when she did it… she joked a lot, almost constantly, but she never meant it in insult and always made up for when it did. Height jokes always made him angry, except when they came from her.

“Well… maybe I’ll do that, then. I’ll talk to the blacksmith after supper.”

“And our friend will be so jealous that he’ll demand the same, right?”

“Absolutely.”

\-------

He knows something is wrong as soon as they see each other.

It couldn’t be him. He would never throw his lot in with the Enchantress, not of his own free will. But when the man speaks, and when they cross weapons, there can be no mistaking it.

There is only one person in the world he would fight like this for. That they would both fight for.

That night when he dreams, he dreams that the shield is now an amulet, and when he sees her it’s as her face twists and contorts until hate crosses her eternally kind and friendly expression for the first time.

He still tries to catch her. He still fails.

\-------

“Shovel, Black, a little help here!”

Shovel Knight dispatched the goblin he was fighting, and turned around to see his partner facing off against- was that a stone troll? What was it doing in these parts?

With each swing the troll’s club bounced against Shield Knight’s tower shield, loud clangs reflecting off the smooth cave walls. “Any time now, you guys!” She yelled, trying to brace her feet against a broken stalagmite.

“I’m comi-“ he started, but a second goblin took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the horns of his helmet, yanking him down to the ground. Off-balance, Shovel Knight struggled with trying to get off his back, only to nearly freeze up as a third foe walked up with a spear that was just the right width to get through his visor slot…

He removed his helmet just in time, slamming it up into the face of his captor, then got back to his feet as he saw Shield Knight’s foot slip.

“NO!“

But another figure moved in, black armour glinting in the low light of the cave as he swung his own shovel at the troll’s arm. The beast screamed, thick blood pouring out of the gash as his prey was quickly forgotten, and when it retreated the courage of the goblins fled with it. The next few minutes were spent in silence, ensuring that the monsters wouldn’t dare to pester any more caravans for a while.

It was Shield Knight who spoke up first. “So were you just waiting for the most dramatic moment to swoop in, or…?”

“Sorry, Shield,” Black Knight replied gruffly. “I was in a bottleneck and assumed Shovel could handle it.”

Shovel Knight said nothing, and focused on retrieving his helmet that had been dropped in the previous chaos. He and Black Knight had been rivals since their first sparring session, and even now their names indicated that Black Knight was nothing but a shadow compared to him. Neither one would deny there was some resentment from that, nor were they anything less than friends and allies, but… it still hurt for both of them.

“Goblin got my helmet,” he mumbled.

“Well the important thing is that I’m fine,” Shield Knight posed, causing the two men to chuckle slightly. “Though that troll worries me.”

“I’d rather have it worried about us,” Black Knight said, probably smirking under his own helmet. “It was a troll, goblins share caves with them all the time.”

“It was a stone troll, though, and they only live in the mountains. What’s one doing this far south?”

“You think someone sold it to them?” Shovel Knight asked, readjusting his own headgear. Maybe the horns were a bad idea after all, but after Black Knight had seen them at the knighthood ceremony and demanded that his would have some as well he couldn’t exactly go back on it. Besides, they made him look taller.

“That,” Shield Knight continued, “or someone is causing trouble up north. Enough to scare trolls, which to be fair isn’t exactly hard, but they don’t leave their territory without a really good reason.”

“Well then,” said Shovel Knight as he sealed their fate, “shall we go investigate?”

\-------

It should have been him.

Fire, and floors that explode and reshape as soon as he regains some footing, and that THING floating above and below, taking her face and her voice in a way that makes him sick to his stomach.

Each blow to her feels like it’s hitting him as well, but he can’t stop. It’s the only way to free her from the curse. With the final blow comes a shriek that rattles through his helmet, through his brain, until he doesn’t know which of them is screaming louder.

Then the world falls away from him, and he is on his back winded and in pain, unable to do anything but watch as she crashes to the ground.

He wishes he would wake up, but this is finally reality, and he knows that he was never meant to catch her.

She forgives him, though, with the kind and loving face that helped pull him through ever since they gave their names and pasts to the kingdom, and for a brief beautiful dance they are fighting together once again and they are Shovel Knight and Shield Knight and not even the darkest evil can best them, not until one desperate attack catches him off guard and slams him against a column.

The last thing he sees is her taking the blow, the mighty slab of steel that was her pride as a knight crumbling against a blast of light and hate and fury.

None of the usual dreams that night, only a single thought that repeats through his mind.

It should have been him.

\-------

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

The smell of fried meat roused Shovel Knight from his sleep, and he yawned in hunger before pausing. He wasn’t in an inn, and he hadn’t had a traveling companion for… for a long time. So who was cooking-

Then his vision cleared, and the knight had to stare a bit to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Then he bit his lip so the pain could provide a second opinion.

“You don’t like it too burnt, right?” Shield Knight poked at a slab of cured ham, her expression maybe not as bright as it had once been, but nevertheless as kind as ever. “I may have gotten distracted changing my bandages, so apologies in advance.”

“Sh-“ Shovel Knight coughed, more as an excuse to find his voice than anything, but even afterwards he could only manage a weak mew. “… Shield?”

“Last I checked, yeah.” She smiled, and even bruised and bloody he could feel his pain easing. “Black Knight pulled you out just in time. That last attack was a real doozy, but…” she shrugged, wincing slightly as she rotated her shoulder. “Ol’ trusty came in handy one more time.”

“Shield…”

“Toast, I’m afraid. Though I really could go for some toast right now…” Taking the frying pan off the fire, she gave the ham a look of satisfaction before offering some to Shovel Knight on her smaller, offhand, shield. “Could go for a lot of things honestly, a good year or two surviving off of magical energy really makes you appreciate home-cooked meals.”

“I… Shield, I…”

“Shovel?” She crouched down, and Shield Knight could see the dents in her armour where he had struck her possessed form, smell the burnt hair from what must have been the Enchantress’ final attack, recognize the look on her face when she was trying to hide how tired and pained she felt after a sparring match… “You okay?

He couldn’t take it anymore, and the food fell forgotten to the ground as he sprung up to embrace Shield Knight, sobbing in her arms.

“Shovel-” She winced again, but held on tightly, clearly having missed him just as much if not more. “Shovel, it’s all right. I’m back, the Enchantress is gone…”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry, it was all my fault and I couldn’t even catch you.”

“Yes you did.”

“But I-“

She lifted up his helmet, revealing messy hair and a tearstained face before pressing her lips to his. “You believed in me. You and Black Knight both knew I was in there and even then you didn’t stop until I was free. You caught me in every single way that mattered.”

They stayed like that for the rest of the morning, their meal ignored as the pair took comfort in each other’s arms. And when Black Knight returned with the wagon he had purchased to carry them all back to town, he couldn’t resist the offer to join in.

\-------

Their first night reunited is the first in a long while that he doesn’t dream. He doesn’t need to.


End file.
